2015 National Academy of Sciences Review of LCCs
NAS Press Release (3 December 2015)
Prepublication copy of the Review is available for download.
Article on Greenwire: 6 years in, landscape-level conservation program works
The objective of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) review, conducted at the request of Congress, was to evaluate the purpose, goals, and scientific merit of the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCC) program within the context of other similar programs and to determine whether there has been measurable improvements in the health of fish, wildlife and their habitats as a result of the program.
In the Northeast Region, the North Atlantic and Appalachian LCCs are encouraged by the panel’s findings that a landscape approach is needed to meet the nation’s conservation challenges and that the LCCs address this need.
The panel also identified areas for further improvement to enhance coordination with partners around priorities and broaden the evaluation framework to better capture the contributions made by all partners and conservation outcomes at individual and network-wide scales.
The NAS review confirms that LCCs create new opportunities to identify common conservation goals and leverage efforts of diverse partners at a much greater scale than they could achieve alone. The LCC Networkwill develop an action plan for addressing the panel's recommendations and will provide a “report card” to document progress over the coming year.
